Five Times Laura Hollis Won (And The One Time That Carmilla Did)
by thatsoddlyromantic
Summary: Laura Hollis has a serious competitive streak. Carmilla is determined to beat her at something - no matter how long it takes.
1. Checkers

1\. Checkers

It all started when Laura asked Carmilla if she wanted to play a game with her.

"It depends, what kind of game did you have in mind?" Carmilla, who was sitting idly in her usual chair and skimming through the pages of one of her many philosophy books, replied.

"Well, earlier I was looking around this place and I found a bunch of games on a shelf over there," – she gestured to a dusty shelf in the corner of the room – "so I was thinking maybe we could play one of those?"

"Alright, go find one." Carmilla said, waving her forward. "And preferably nothing with brightly coloured candy villages. After our little encounter with that Christmas witch I have even less of a desire than usual for sweets."

Laura laughed.

"Okay… not Candyland then!"

The game had been one of Laura's favourites when she was younger, but she was inclined to agree with Carmilla on this one. She skimmed through the selection of games until she found one that caught her interest. It was a wooden case marked "Draughts". Laura looked inside curiously, realizing it was in fact a familiar game, which she knew by a different name.

"Oooh! How about checkers?"

Carmilla laughed.

"You really think you can beat me at checkers? That game has been around for ages, cupcake, and so have I."

Laura raised an eyebrow, spurred on by Carmilla's boldness.

"Okay, challenge accepted!" she declared.

Laura went and retrieved the game from the shelf, and placed it on the table. Carmilla opened it up, setting the circular pieces out on the board in front of them.

"So which one will you be the red or the black?"

Laura thought it over for a moment.

"Red." she decided.

"Suit yourself," Carmilla said. "Black is more my colour anyways. And besides, that means I get to go first."

Carmilla made the first move, advancing her piece a space diagonally forward. Laura followed suit, and this procedure went on for several turns.

"Oh what's that?" Carmilla said, looking at the board. "I can take one of your pieces?"

She jumped her piece over Laura's and held it in front of her, a look of satisfaction on her face.

"Seems like I just made the first capture, cutie." She smirked.

Laura stuck out her tongue. She wasn't going to let Carmilla win. Not a chance.

* * *

There was one turn remaining, and it was Laura's. Much to Carmilla's astonishment, Laura had proven herself to be a formidable adversary when it came to checkers, making all the right moves and capturing almost all of Carmilla's pieces. Not only that, but she had even managed to king several of her own pieces. Laura went ahead and jumped her stack of checkers over Carmilla's last piece, then scooped it up.

"I win!" she shouted. She pumped her fist in the air victoriously.

Carmilla groaned. She wasn't used to others beating her. But there was no question about it: Laura Hollis had a serious competitive streak. And Carmilla was determined to beat her at _something_ – no matter how long it took.

"How about we try another game, buttercup?" Carmilla offered. "This time, I get to pick."

She strode over to the shelf where Laura had procured the game of checkers from, taking a look through the selection. Finally she found one she knew she had a chance at. Carmilla brought the game she chose over to Laura. Much like the last one it was in a case; however, it was a much fancier case this time, with carved designs on the outside. Laura looked at it for a moment. "Chess? Oh, this is gonna be fun!"


	2. Chess

2\. Chess

Carmilla Karnstein was incredibly skilled when it came to the game of chess, in part due to having many, many years of experience playing it. She would figure out her opponents' weaknesses and then strategize around them, making her a force to be reckoned with. She could even beat Mattie, the only one who came close to having any kind of chance against her. Just when Mattie thought she'd won, Carmilla would pull out a surprise move that resulted in her sister's defeat. Surely there was no way that Laura could possibly beat her this time… right? Her victory at checkers could simply be chalked up to pure luck.

Carmilla turned to Laura, who was currently opening the wooden case.

"So do you want the black or white… wait, why am I even asking. Of course you want the light pieces."

Laura had already taken out the white pieces and began positioning them on the board.

"Am I really that predictable?" she asked with a huff.

Carmilla just laughed in response and took the black pieces out of the box.

As the two of them set up the chess pieces on their respective squares, Carmilla smiled. This game was hers for the taking - she was sure of it.

"What are you smiling about?" Laura asked. "You remember that I kinda won the last game… right?"

Carmilla rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rub it in. But let's just say that chess is my domain, creampuff."

Laura advanced one of her white pawns forward a space as Carmilla stared her down.

"Game on, Hollis."

With those words the chess battle commenced and once again it was Laura who the first casualty fell to - and the second, and the third, and so on. Carmilla swiftly captured several of Laura's pawns, as well as her knight and rook. She leaned back and looked at the board, pleased with herself. Laura scowled.

"Your turn."

Laura scanned the board in search of any way she could trap her opponent, any move she possibly could make to defeat Carmilla Karnstein, the self-proclaimed queen of chess, bringing her centuries-long reign to an end.

Suddenly, her face lit up. There _was_ something she could do. Laura picked up her remaining knight and jumped it right over Carmilla's bishop – which had been in the position to take out even more of her pieces.

"Your turn," Laura declared smugly.

Carmilla slid one of her rooks a few spaces forward. Unbeknownst to her, this move was advantageous to Laura, who didn't hesitate to capture it the first chance she got. As well as one of her pawns. And her other bishop. Carmilla was beginning to get worried. She had been so sure of herself. But here, on the other end of the table, sat Laura Hollis, who was poised to win at yet another board game. Her worst fears were confirmed a few turns later. Somehow (and she still had no idea how exactly it had happened) Laura managed to get Carmilla's king backed into a corner, leaving her no room to make a move. They were down to the last turn.

"Check annnd," Laura paused for dramatic effect, "…mate!"

Laura tapped her queen against Carmilla's king, knocking it over.

Carmilla sighed in defeat. How was it that Laura was so good at these stupid games? Still, she was unwilling to give up. There had to be a game on that bookshelf that was free from Laura's domination. She watched as Laura once again got up and walked over to the bookshelf in the corner.

"Now I definitely get to pick the next one," she said.

"Oh joy, I can hardly wait," Carmilla grumbled.

Laura returned, the box she set on the table was bigger than the last two. This box was a colourful one, with a cartoonish drawing of kids sliding down playground slides on the front. When Carmilla saw what it was, she raised an eyebrow at Laura.

"You _can't_ be serious."

"Oh, but I am." She flashed a smile at Carmilla.

"Snakes and Ladders? That's a children's game," she scoffed. "Which I suppose is why you chose it."

"Well if it's such a childish game then it should be easy for you to beat me, right?" Laura retorted.

"Okay," Carmilla said with a sigh. "Set it up, buttercup."


	3. Snakes And Ladders

3\. Snakes And Ladders

The game board lay on the tabletop in front of them, the numbered squares that went from 0 to 100 spread across it in neat little horizontal rows. Since there were no black game pieces, Carmilla opted for the red one. Laura was yellow. Unlike the previous two games however, which had relied on strategy, this was a game of pure chance. The dice would dictate their moves, so there was a chance that Carmilla could actually win against Laura this time. After they both rolled the die, it was decided that Laura would go first since she got the highest number. On her first turn she rolled a 5. Nothing but a blank space.

"Well that was exciting," Carmilla said dryly.

Laura ignored Carmilla and watched her as she rolled the dice.

"Looks like a 6!"

Carmilla moved her red game piece six spaces. Nothing happened for her either. Laura moved to pick up the die but right before she did, Carmilla grabbed it.

"Uh uh uh," she said. "The rules say that means I go again, sweetheart."

"Right."

After rolling a 4 on the dice, Carmilla realized that she had some luck on her side. She slid her game piece up the tiny colourful ladder on the board, which took her from the 10th square all the way up to the 36th square. She smirked.

"Looks like the tables have turned."

Laura snatched the dice from her. She had a look of determination as she shook it rapidly, cupping it in her hands. Carmilla watched her in amusement.

"That little bunched up face you make when you're concentrating hard on something is adorable, buttercup."

With her eyes still closed, Laura set free the die that her hands had held captive. When she opened them, she saw that she had rolled a 5 again. A 5 – that happened to take her up the exact same ladder that Carmilla had gone up on her turn.

"Look Carm, we're on the same space now!" she exclaimed. "Isn't that exciting?"

"Sure is," Carmilla sighed. _So much for having a clear lead._

The die made its way back into Carmilla's hands. She was relieved to find that her roll advanced her forward, right past a winding snake and a good few spaces away from her opponent. Another set of turns passed and the threat of Laura's victory was kept at bay, as her game piece remained a few squares behind Carmilla's. Once Carmilla had passed the halfway mark and Laura slid down a tiny snake (much to her dismay) she was sure the game was hers. There was nothing at this point that could get in her way… right?

 _Wrong._ Oh, how very wrong she was. Carmilla quickly found that she was making friends with far more snakes than ladders. Right when she got ahead of Laura, she would fall back down another few rows. As for Laura, on the other hand? She somehow managed to roll two consecutive sixes, which not only increased her lead exponentially but also sent her up one of the tallest ladders on the entire board. Except for the one snake Laura had encountered earlier, it had been nothing but clear sailing for her.

"This is ridiculous," Carmilla grumbled.

Laura merely grinned and continued her ongoing domination of yet another board game. Carmilla was getting more and more frustrated by the minute. She had to take matters into her own hands – literally.

"Ok, my turn!" Laura said, cheerily.

She scanned the table for the die and was confused when it was nowhere to be found.

"Hmmm that's odd," she remarked, furrowing her brow. "I swear it was just… right… there…"

Her gaze drifted over to Carmilla, whose hands were hidden underneath the table. Laura's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"All right, show me your hands."

Carmilla had been caught, and she knew it.

"Guilty as charged," she said with a shrug, exposing the palms of her hands – one of which contained the die.

"Carm, why did you do that?" Laura asked as she reclaimed the missing game piece. "You know we can't finish the game without the die."

"Yeah, that was kind of the plan…" Carmilla muttered.

The truth was that it didn't really matter at that point. Laura was on the final row of the game board, merely a few squares away from a win. Lucky for her (and unluckily for Carmilla) she happened to roll the exact number of spaces she needed to reach that '100' in the top left corner.

"I win again!" Laura declared. She did a little victory dance in her seat. "Now, what should we play next?"

She looked over at the stack of games, all possible conquests for her.

"Oh I know! How about…"

Right as Laura was finishing her sentence, she heard the door swing open.

"Were we… uh, interrupting something?" a familiar voice asked.

She turned around and saw none other than LaFontaine and Perry awkwardly standing in the doorway.

"Well if it isn't the merry band of gingers," Carmilla remarked.

Laura couldn't help but stifle a laugh at Carmilla's comment.

"No it's cool!" she said in response to the duo. "Carm and I were just playing some board games."

"Sweet," LaFontaine said. "Mind if we join in?"

"Sure, go right ahead." Carmilla replied. "Laura here is just going to win anyway."

LaFontaine and Perry entered the room, finding a place to sit down. Suddenly, an idea came to Laura.

"So… how do you two feel about card games?"


	4. Uno

4\. Uno

With LaFontaine and Perry added to the mix, Laura decided that maybe it was time to try something a little different.

"Well, card games are… good." Perry answered, a hint of caution in her tone. "Isn't that right, Su-" She stopped mid-sentence, realizing her verbal slip a second too late. "…LaFontaine?"

The person in question looked slightly uncomfortable for a brief moment before shrugging their friend's mistake off. At least she was making the effort to call them by their preferred name.

"Yeah, I'm down for a game of cards." They nudged Perry. "Hey Perr, remember that one time we played go fish with your little sisters? That was fun, right?"

Perry was just about to respond when suddenly another voice broke through their conversation, bringing it to an abrupt end.

"Aha!" Laura exclaimed.

While LaFontaine and Perry had been conversing, they hadn't noticed Laura get up and walk over to the bookshelf, sifting through the assortment of various games that were piled up. The three others in the room turned their heads towards her, wondering what game Laura had chosen.

She retrieved a bright red rectangular box of cards from the middle shelf and waved it in the air. Big block letters on the front bore the title of the game – UNO.

Carmilla eyed it disdainfully.

"When you suggested cards, buttercup, I was thinking more along the lines of solitaire perhaps. Or maybe, I don't know, old maid. But no. Somehow you've managed to pick yet another juvenile game. Well done, you!"

Laura found it funny how much of a rise she was getting out of Carmilla. And she thought that _she_ was competitive. This was getting ridiculous.

"Well maybe, if miss obstinate _vampire_ over here had just accepted the fact that I keep _winning_ against her, we wouldn't be having this conversation!"

"All right, that's enough." Perry sharply interjected. "Why don't you two… hug it out or something?" she offered, trying to be helpful.

"Hug it out?" Carmilla asked, incredulously. "Is that really what you said?"

Perry nodded.

"Yeah, I'm with Perry on this one." LaFontaine said. "If the two of you are gonna be like this all night then we're not gonna stick around to see the end of it."

Laura sighed.

"Come on, Carm, lighten up! It's just a game."

She looked at Carmilla - who was currently off staring into the distance and being her broody self - with a pleading expression.

Carmilla finally relented.

"Okay, fine. If we must…"

Laura left the Uno box on the table and ran over to Carmilla, wrapping her in a tight hug. Carmilla hugged her back in response, relaxing a little into the embrace.

"See? I knew it would work!" Perry whispered to LaFontaine.

Laura broke away from the hug, turning back to face the two other people in the room.

"Now let's get on with the game!" she exclaimed.

The four of them sat gathered around the table, with the stack of Uno cards in the middle. Carmilla had to admit, this was actually kind of fun. Since this game was a combination of both luck and playing your cards right (in both the literal and figurative sense) it was less clear-cut who the winner would be. Carmilla liked it that way. After all, she considered herself to be somewhat of a wild card. Her actions were driven by desire and circumstance, whatever she felt was right in any particular given moment. Not to mention, when it came to this game of Uno, she had a pretty good hand of cards. She was just about to lay a "draw 4" card on Laura when LaFontaine decided to play their "skip" card. _Damn it._

She glanced over at Laura, who was currently sitting across from her and holding her hand of cards protectively close to her chest. Laura had a smile on her face and seemed to be enjoying herself. LaFontaine and Perry were too.

The game came to an end shortly after LaFontaine called out, "Uno!" With one card left, the next cycle of moves had the potential to decide the winner. Since the colour of the card pile remained the same, when it was their turn again LaFontaine threw down their lone card in victory.

"Darn it, you ruined my winning streak!" Laura said, jokingly.

Laura was next to finish, after a frustrating cycle of reverses being played against her. Carmilla came in third. Fittingly enough, her wild card ended up being the final card she disposed of. Perry was dead last, having been the unfortunate victim of circumstance and having amassed quite a handful of cards – none of which seemed to match the colour or number that needed to be played.

 _Maybe Laura's right_ , Carmilla thought. _I was being too hard on her. It's just a fun little game, nothing more._

Finally there was a game Laura Hollis didn't win… but she had still beaten Carmilla. And there was no way Carmilla was going to give up. Laura could call her an "obstinate vampire" all she wanted, but it would be so incredibly satisfying to finally pull off a victory. There had to be something she could win against Laura at – but what?


End file.
